Woman facing charges after video shows robbery during Mass

By John Boyd |
July 30, 2014
| Updated: July 31, 2014 11:42am

Cynthia Gonzales, also known as Cynthia Martinez, was brought back to Houston from Florida to face felony charges for crimes related to alleged thefts at a church in 2011.

IN THIS SLIDE: The church begins a traditional Catholic mass. (Keep clicking to see the crime unfold...)

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

The alleged suspect enters the church late.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

The alleged suspect takes a seat in a pew near the middle of the church.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

At first, the alleged suspect seems like any other churchgoer.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

After a few minutes, the alleged suspect leaves her Pew.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

Moments later, the alleged suspect re-enters the church two aisles away from her original seat location.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

The alleged suspect sits down behind a woman who has left her purse underneath her seat.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

During the "greet your neighbors" portion of the sermon, the alleged suspect shakes hands with the victim.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

Moments after the victim leaves her seat, the alleged suspect appears to reach under the pew in front of her and rummage around for several minutes.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

Seconds later, the alleged suspect leaves.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

Cynthia Gonzales, aka Cynthia Martinez, faces five felony charges in Harris County, including credit card abuse, forgery and tampering with a governmental record. Authorities also believe she stole a wallet from a fellow churchgoer's purse during a Catholic Mass.

Photo By Adam Berry/Getty Images

Houston-area crimes caught on tape

Be warned, potential evil-doers. The cameras are always on, as these suspects found out.

Photo By Harris County Sheriff's Office

GAS STATION CAR THIEF: Harris County deputies are looking for a woman and man in their early 20s who stole a man's car around 1:15 a.m. July 19, 2014 at a gas station in the 400 block of West FM 1960. According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the man distracted the suspect by asking to borrow his cellphone while the woman slipped into his car and sped away.

CLERK CHOKES OUT ATTEMPTED ROBBER: A Citgo convenience store clerk thwarted an attempted robbery of cellphones from his Fort Bend County store when he put a choke hold on one of the three suspects and refused to let go until a third suspect threatened to kill him.

THEFT OF RARE SKATEBOARDS: Houston Police are seeking information regarding two suspects who broke into the Kingpinz skateboard shop at 8584 Westheimer Road on June 11 and made off with rare skateboards, t-shirts, caps and more. Surveillance video shows that thieves smashing through the front door, then pilfering the shirt and caps racks, before grabbing the skateboard decks on their way out. A person of interest possibly named Brendan is being sought for more information.

ROBBER PAYS UP: A routine gas station robbery probably didn’t go as planned for a Houston criminal earlier this month when he was forced to return a portion of his loot to the counter in order to leave the business he had just robbed.

POPEYE'S CHICKEN ROBBERY: Harris County deputies are looking for three suspects who robbed at gunpoint a Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen located on West FM 1960 on July 27, 2014. Once an employee opened the restaurant safe, one of the suspects pulled out a gun, hopped over the counter and took money from both the safe and the cash register.

CELLPHONE STORE ROBBERY, PART 1: Houston police are searching for three masked gunmen who robbed a Sprint store at gunpoint on July 17. Investigators believe they may be the same men who committed a similar armed robbery of a Harris County T-Mobile store on July 24, making off with approximately $30,000 in cellphones. (Houston Police)

CELLPHONE STORE ROBBERY, PART 2: The Harris County Sheriff's Office is looking for three masked gunmen who robbed a T-Mobile store location at 12260 West FM 1960 by gunpoint on Wednesday, July 23, 2014 and assaulted employees inside. The gunmen made off with 80 cellphones averaging $400 in price each and an unknown amount of money.

LOAN STORE ROBBERY:Houston police robbery investigators have released surveillance video and photos of two suspects wanted in a robbery of the EZ Money Loan Services at 7000 North Freeway service road about 12:50 p.m. on May 24. The suspects are described only as black males. One was armed with a semiautomatic pistol. He is about 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs about 170 pounds, was wearing a black T-shirt and has several tattoos on his face. The second suspect is about 5 feet 11 inches tall, 170 pounds and has long braids, a mustache and goatee. The suspect was wearing a black T-shirt and Chicago Bulls cap.

NAKED PEEPING TOM: Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers have offered a $5,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest of a man who broke into an area back yard, took off all his clothes and went swimming in the homeowners pool.

CROSS-DRESSING, DANCING BANDIT: Houston Crime Stoppers is looking for a man dressed who broke into a business' shipping area on May 5 dressed as a woman, chugged a bottle of Diet Pepsi from the office fridge and danced for security cameras before making off with several computers and other electronics. Anyone with information about the man's identity or whereabouts is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS or send a tip via the iWatchHarrisCounty mobile app.

CHECK-CASHING STORE HEIST: Houston police and Crime Stoppers are looking for two suspects involved in the robbery of a check cashing store in the Copperfield area of west Houston on Jan. 14.
Witnesses describe the two armed suspects as Hispanic males between 17 to 21 years of age, around 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall. Both were said to be wearing a black jacket, a black and red baseball cap, and black pants at the time of the robbery.

HEB BANK ROBBERY: Authorities say this man robbed an HEB at 12035 Antoine earlier this year. He entered the store, just west of Veterans Memorial, walked up to the teller counter and handed the teller a threatening note demanding money, FBI officials said.

More Information

Key scenes from security video

See the full video of the church robbery below, courtesy of the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

08:45 Suspect enters and sits down

15:10 Suspect moves to a different pew, just behind victim

19:40 Suspect exchanges sign of peace with victim

23:05 Suspect is seen allegedly digging through victim's purse

23:50 Suspect leaves church

A Houston woman who fled to Florida has been dragged back to Texas to face trial for five felony counts, including robbing a fellow churchgoer during Catholic Mass.

A video purporting to show Cynthia Gonzales, aka Cynthia Martinez, went viral in 2011 when it appeared to show her entering a Houston-area church, switching seats midway through service, then lifting a wallet from the pew in front of her before scampering for the door.

Today, the Harris County Sheriff's Department says Gonzales has been returned to Houston, where she faces felony counts including credit card abuse, forgery and tampering with evidence.

She allegedly used a checkbook inside the wallet stolen in the viral video to make a $399.29 purchase at Sam's Club, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Investigators say Gonzales "prayed" (their bad pun, not ours) on churchgoers at several area churches, and has financial crimes against her record in Harris and Galveston counties dating back to the early 1990s.